


Words to Share

by Hadesunderpants



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Humanstuck, and sollux is a dork, in which aradia is a poet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-01-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 12:07:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/621959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hadesunderpants/pseuds/Hadesunderpants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The girl’s voice is sultry and hypnotic, enrapturing the thirty or so in the building with her ominous words. There is a lilting pause between each syllable as she draws out each word, as if she is forcing herself to share her deepest thoughts with all that would listen</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words to Share

You’ve been in your room for who knows how long when a light tap on your door draws your attention away from the glowing computer screen your eyes have been glued to since the new demo for a game you’ve been looking forward to all year was released. Various pieces of garbage clutter the space around your desk and there is a slight stench of cheese coming from the most recently opened bag of Doritos. It will remain next to your keyboard until another replaces it. The knock is heard again, this time increasing in volume and vehemence before an angry looking young man barges into the dark room and flips the light switch, momentarily blinding you. His breath can be heard from across the room, coming in angry huff as his face burns crimson with unfiltered fury. His mouth screws up to begin the spew of expletives that are sure to escape him, sometimes you wonder how someone so small can be filled with so much rage. His voice erupts in a gravelly shout that you’ve grown used to after all the years you’ve known him. “SOLLUX, YOU FUCKING ASSWIPE, IS THIS WHERE YOU’VE BEEN THE PAST WEEK AND A HALF?” you think he’s do-, “WE HAD PLANS YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER SACK OF HORSE SHIT. NOT THE SOLID KIND EITHER, IT IS WARM AND LIQUIDY,” he stalks over to where you sit before reaching for the computer plug.

“Karkat no,” you stand hastily, “what’re you doing? You wouldn’t dare,” you move to stop him.

His eyes blaze and he begins to yell again, “I WOULD FUCKING DARE, IN FACT, I ALREADY DARED, I DARED SO MUCH,” he pulls the plug and your monitor fades into the black you haven’t seen for days, “THAT IT WAS NEVER EVEN A DARE TO BEGIN WITH,” he stops yelling and stares at you.

You wipe the spit from your face and pull your mouth into a grimace, you deserve this, but you aren’t going to let him have the satisfaction, “Karkat, thtop being thuch a dick, you know you wouldn’t have thowed up,” his eye twitches slightly but you think he’s starting to calm down. “Bethideth, it’th not like you didn’t know what I would be doing when thith game came out,” Karkat lifts a finger in contempt but lowers it again, his mouth opening and closing, ”hell, everybody knew.”

“YEAH WELL,” his shout is only quieter by a degree from before, “YOU COULD HAVE AT LEAST CALLED TO CANCEL,” Karkat shuffles his feet and moves away from you. “SORRY ABOUT LOSING YOUR PLACE IN THE GAME DICKHEAD,” he is not even remotely sorry.

You shake your head and a laugh escapes you, “Eheheheh, it’th okay, I gueth I have been playing for too long anyway, it wath getting boring.”

Karkat wraps a fist around your shirt before asking, “WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SHOWERED? YOU SMELL WORSE THAN EQUIUS’S MOLDY TOWELS.” 

Your face reddens slightly and you mumble an incoherent, “eight dayth” before he hits the side of your head, knocking the wire glasses with the lightly tinted red and blue lenses from your face before he starts to yell.

“THAT’S DISGUSTING, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU,” he drags you to the bathroom and pulls the door shut, you can hear him shout, “I’M NOT LETTING YOU OUT UNTIL YOU SHOWER,” from the other side of the door.

Twenty minutes later, you emerge from the steamy bathroom wearing the pair of clothes you keep under the sink for just such occasions. Karkat had left the door when he heard the shower start and was sitting on the lumpy couch of your apartment, remote in hand and the television quietly rumbling the daily news. You notice that he is dressed less casually than usual and groan when you realize that there was a reason he had shown up at your place today.

He looks over to you, when he hears you walk into the room, “GET SOME SHOES ON, OR WERE YOU PLANNING ON GOING BAREFOOT, YOU HISSING SHIT.” His insults are especially lame today; this makes it obvious that he is nervous for his plans of the evening, revealing the detail that you are probably being dragged into one of his and Terezi's date nights.  
He takes you to a small darkly lit café called Verses and when the two of you enter, it is silent. Save for a single voice, the din of an average coffee house is absent, the words the girl on stage is saying are dark and sweet, foreboding in a way that makes a man remember to care for the life he has.

The girl’s voice is sultry and hypnotic, enrapturing the thirty or so in the building with her ominous words. There is a lilting pause between each syllable as she draws out each word, as if she is forcing herself to share her deepest thoughts with all that would listen

Alas, as the moon falls behind the hills  
the lark sings it tune  
and the sun rises  
causing those who have woken from their deep slumber to cringe in the light  
while some embrace it gently  
night overpowers day  
The darkness has arrived  
the cycle begins again  
darkness looms above us  
we will wait patiently  
for the dawn of day  
to bring us to our knees

It is not the day that would bring you to your knees, but the speaker, you feel your phone vibrate and check it quickly, “SO M1ST3R 4PPL3B3RRY BL4ST H4S F1N4LLY D3C1D3D TO GR4C3 US W1TH H1S PR3S3NC3 >:]” Terezi’s way of typing never fails to make your head hurt. You are about to return your phone to its pocket when it lights up with another message, “H3H3H3,” You can spot the shiny red glasses from across the room and weave through the tables to find a seat next to the bony girl. Her coarse auburn hair brushes your shoulder as you take the seat next to her; Karkat follows and sits on Terezi’s left-hand side. Her toothy grin turns to face you and a shiver runs down your spine, you are thankful that she is wearing the glasses, her eyes freak you out even more than her smile, her voice is scratchy when she whispers “you sm3ll d3l1c1ous tod4y,” in your ear. It is followed shortly by a cackle just loud enough to make the woman on stage pause abruptly. You elbow her lightly and her bony elbow just about stabs through your ribs when the girl clears her throat and continues. 

The room begins to snap in applause and the girl stands, closing her eyes with a smile. You join in and Terezi is cackling quietly at you while Karkat snaps once before folding both arms over his chest. “who wath that?” 

Terezi’s smile widens to an extent that you wonder if it is even humanly possible, “WHY? DO3S SOM3ON3 H4V3 4 CRUSH?” her voice is just as loud as Karkat’s and she screws up her mouth, trying to make it in the shape of a question mark.

“God, tz, would you jutht fuckin tell me the name?” you’re beginning to get irritated with her, and become even more so when her smile nearly splits her face open. You walk away, too agitated to hear her answer, and head in the girl’s direction. You stop dead in your tracks when a tall blonde boy wearing sunglasses walks up to her and a radiant smile spreads across her lips. You tell yourself that no matter what, you need to apologize for Terezi’s outburst, and after a pause continue walking toward the two. 

“That was good ‘radia, not as sick as my rhymes though,” a small laugh escapes her lips.

“I don’t think my words will ever be as ‘sick’ as the legendary Dave Strider’s,” you hear a chuckle from him and something about getting them both coffees when he walks away. 

The girl is shorter than you expected, her long glossy hair spills down her back, hinting at the curves hidden beneath them. You approach her quietly and she gives a startled look at you when she lifts her head from the bag she is rummaging through. “Hey, I jutht wanted to apologithe for my friend over there, she really ithn’t that rude motht of the time.” Who are you kidding, this is Terezi you’re talking about. She’s been this boisterous since she was born.

The corners of her mouth turn up slightly, “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” her voice has a hollow ring to it that draws you in even more. “I’m Aradia,” her face brightens as she holds out a hand to you.

“Thollux,” you tell her with what is no doubt the goofiest grin she has ever seen and take her hand. You think about making a suave attempt to kiss her knuckles but drop the idea for its unadulterated idiocy. She brushes a stray lock of hair behind her ear and the guy she called Dave comes back with a couple coffees in his hands. 

“Thanks Dave,” she says, taking one of them from him and sipping at it delicately before making a face of disgust. “Did you put any sugar in this?”

He sort of laughs into his hand and looks at you, “So, who’s this guy?” he asks her, his eyes scanning you for some sort of threat. 

“This,” she says, gesturing towards you, “is Sollux?” she looks at you for affirmation and you nod before looking at Dave suspiciously.

“The name’s Strider, Dave Strider,” he’s got a poker face on as he continues with his introduction, “you’ve probably heard of me, I DJ at a lot of the clubs around here, all motherfucking helping everyone get their party on. Without me, everyone would just be sitting around on their asses watching infomercials in their spare time and never getting any action,” you are already starting to dislike this guy. “What about you?”

“I’m a member of the Geek Squad and in my spare time I work at the Genius Bar,” your answer is nerdy enough that Aradia smiles and a small laugh shakes her figure. You decide for now not to tell her about your beekeeping hobby though because you already sound like a huge geek and you don’t want to make it even worse.

“Well,” her voice breaks the silence, “I am studying to be an archaeologist, but at the moment,” she pauses and looks at Dave, “I work at this coffee shop and fix broken music boxes when I get the chance.” Your eyes light up and you try to hold a conversation with her, talking about various interests and hear about her love of Minecraft and other games like it and you believe you may have fallen in love with this girl.

Dave finishes his coffee and throws it out before kissing Aradia on the cheek, “Gotta go babe, my bitches need me at the club,” she blushes furiously as he shrugs on his jacket and walks out the door.

“Ith he your boyfriend?” you ask, praying that the answer is no with all your might. 

“Erm,” the blush hasn’t left her face, “No, I think he was just trying to be a jerk,” she tenses up in embarrassment, “Sorry about Dave, he’s really a nice guy!” you look at her disbelievingly, “We’ve been friends since before I can remember and he’s just a little protective is all,” she folds her hands together. She looks to the side and smiles a little, “It was nice meeting you ‘Thollux’,” she gathers her belongings and lifts the bag to her shoulder. You notice a small slip of paper in her hand, “Let me know if you need anything, okay?” she smiles and she drops it by your hand before walking out the door, a small wave could be seen just before it closed behind her. You look down to the paper and are quite surprised to see that it is a business card. Printed on it are the words, Aradia Megido, for the broken music box or queries of regular upkeep. You laugh a little and pull your phone out to enter the number when you hear a cackle from just behind you.

“SO C4PTOR’S GOT 4 G1RLFR13ND HUH?” her eyebrows waggle up and down and Karkat shows up behind her, looking agitated as ever. 

“Fuck you Pyrope,” you say jokingly, “just becauthe Vantath over here won’t, doethn’t mean you need to get all up in my beethwax about it.” Her grin grows wider and a scratchy cackle escapes her throat. You look over to Karkat, the frown on his face more pronounced than it usually is. “Hey, kk, I’m gonna take off,” he looks a little relieved, you whisper to Terezi, “get ready boneth I think he may finally be ready,” his scowl deepens and her laugh interrupts every other conversation in the room. You wave to the both of them and step out into the chilly evening air. A light drizzle has picked up since you left your house and you pull your hood up and stuff your hands in your pocket. Instead of catching a taxi you decide to walk home, enjoying the cool droplets that fall against your skin every now and then.

A few days later you had attempted to write a poem, it wasn’t like you had never done so before. Every few months or so, you develop a mood that you can’t shake until you write, it’s never any good, but you figure you can call Aradia and ask her to critique it for you. You choose her number from the contact you had saved for her and brace yourself for when she answers, secretly hoping that she won’t but wanted her to all the more. After a few rings you are ready to hang up when she answers with, “Aradia Megido speaking, what can I do for you?”

“Uh, hi…” she waits for you to speak, “thith ith Thollux.”

“Oh,” it’s a surprised tone, “Hey Sollux,” you can hear the smile in her voice, “Was there a reason you called or did you just want to chat?” she pauses, “I didn’t mean to sound rude, sorry,” an awkward laugh sounds tinny from the other side, “I have time for either.”

You clear your throat, “Actually, I wath wondering if you could critique a poem of mine,”

“That sounds great!” her excitement has been peaked, “Let’s hear it!”

“Uh, wha,” you gulp, “over the phone?”

“Why not?”

“Alright..” your throat feels dry.

“The thkeletonth thcreech  
Everything ith a blur  
People frozen  
Ath the warring country dieth  
thomeone walkth  
The ash-burnt land thtrewn with bones  
thilence  
You can feel the ended war  
Their pain ith tangible  
Fire  
And Blood  
Their deathth are thtainth  
Fire flasheth before your eyeth”

She has listened patiently from her side and lets out a small whistle, “Well,” you don’t think she liked it.

“You hated it didn’t you?”

She lets out a surprised gasp, “Most certainly not,” she hesitates, “It’s just that,” a hmm comes from her, “I’ve never heard writing as dark as mine before, I’m thoroughly impressed! I love it actually,” you doubt this is true. “With poems like that you could capture any girl’s heart,” she laughs a little and you are glad she can’t see the scarlet coloring on your cheeks, “Dark and brooding seems to be the preference these days.”

“Well,” you stumble with your words, “wow, um, thank you,” you have been pacing around your apartment this whole time, “honethtly I never thought I wath any good”

“Ah, sorry, Sol, can I call you that?, it seems I’ve got someone here that needs my attention, call me sometime yeah?” 

“Uh, yeah, for sure,” you hang up.

You immediately tap on her number again and she answers on the first ring, “Yes?”

“Uh, do you wanna get coffee thometime?”

“Sure! I’ll call you back in a little bit with the details alright? Talk to you then Sol,” the line goes dead and your grin is plastered onto your face. You probably look like Terezi with such a huge smile.


End file.
